Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from Genesis 5:3-24.  Here is a link to the chapter.

 

 

We will focus on the following verses 21 to 24.

 

“Enoch lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Methuselah.  Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters.  So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years.  Enoch walked with God;  and he was not, for God took him.”  Genesis 5:3-24.

 

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Noah also walked with God.  “These are the records of the generations of Noah.  Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time;  Noah walked with God.”  Genesis 6:9

 

The Christian life is often described as a walk. (See for examples: “walk by the Spirit”, Galatians 5:16;  “walk in newness of life”, Romans 6:4;  “walk in a manner worthy of the calling”, Ephesians 4:1).

Today’s devotion comes from Genesis 5:1-2.

 

“This is the book of the generations of Adam.  In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God.  He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the day when they were created.”  Genesis 5:1-2.

 

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God made Man in the likeness of God.  God blessed Man.

 

 

“Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.  In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.”  James 1:17-18.

 

Today’s devotion comes from Genesis 4:16-26.  Here is a link to the chapter, so you can read it.

 

 

We will focus on verses 25 and 26.

 

“Adam had relations with his wife again;  and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for, she said, “God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel, for Cain killed him.”  To Seth, to him also a son was born;  and he called his name Enosh.  Then men began to call upon the name of the Lord.”  Genesis 4:25-26.

 

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God comforts.  When we experience sorrow, let us remember the “God of all comfort”.  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”  2 Corinthians 1:3-4. 

 

God shows lovingkindness.  “… I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth;  for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.”  Jeremiah 9:24.

 

God restores.  We are reminded of all the losses that Job suffered.  But, “The Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord increased all that Job had twofold.”  Job 42:10

 

“The Lord will sustain him upon his sickbed; In his illness, You restore him to health.”  Psalm 41:3

 

Not only does God restore earthly things, as He did in today’s Scripture for Adam in Eve in appointing another offspring in place of Abel, God provides us with spiritual blessings, as He did in today’s Scripture:  “Then men began to call upon the name of the Lord.”  Verse 26. 

 

“He restores my soul;  He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.”  Psalm 23:3

 

“Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit.”  Psalm 51:12

 

“O God, restore us And cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.”  Psalm 80:3

 

“… Let him give heed to these things, And consider the lovingkindnesses of the Lord.”  Psalm 107:43.   

 

“⁴¹ But He sets the needy securely on high away from affliction,
And makes his families like a flock.
⁴² The upright see it and are glad;
But all unrighteousness shuts its mouth.
⁴³ Who is wise?  Let him give heed to these things,
And consider the lovingkindnesses of the Lord.”  Psalm 107:43.

Today’s devotion comes from Genesis 4:9-15.

 

“Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?”  And he said, “I do not know.  Am I my brother’s keeper?”   He said, “What have you done?  The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground.  Now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.  When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you;  you will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth.”  Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great to bear!  Behold, You have driven me this day from the face of the ground;  and from Your face I will be hidden, and I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”  So the Lord said to him, “Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.”  And the Lord appointed a sign for Cain, so that no one finding him would slay him.”  Genesis 4:9-15.

 

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Today’s Scripture makes us wonder why the LORD did not punish Cain by death for killing Abel.  After all, it is clear the death penalty was just for certain killings.  See, for example, Numbers 35:15-24 which carries  descriptions and distinctions of killings that are punishable by death from killings which are not punishable by death.

 

Did the LORD spare Cain, because Cain cried out for mercy?

 

Or, did the LORD spare Cain, because Cain’s killing did not contain sufficient intention, sufficient hatred, or sufficient enmity such that justice required that Cain be punished by death?

 

I don’t think the LORD spared Cain, because Cain cried out for mercy, because the LORD said to Cain:  “The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground.”  The LORD would not have been swayed by ungodly Cain’s plea over righteous Abel’s plea.

 

I think the LORD spared Cain, because Cain’s killing did not contain sufficient intention, sufficient hatred, or sufficient enmity such that justice required that Cain be punished by death.

 

Regarding whether Cain had intention, sufficient hatred, or sufficient enmity, Genesis 4:8 does not gives us many details:  “Cain told Abel his brother.  And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.”

 

We do know that Cain was angry that the LORD had no regard for his offering:  “but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.”  Genesis 4:5.  But, Scripture does not tell us that this was an anger toward Abel.  Moreover, we do know that Cain told Abel what the LORD had told him.  If Cain was angry at Abel, why would Cain tell Abel what the LORD told him?

 

We do know that because of Cain’s countenance, sin was crouching at the door.  But, it was not necessarily a sin of murder punishable by death crouching at the door.  “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up?  And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”  Genesis 4:7.

 

We do have the description of the killing in 1 John 3:11-12:  “For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another;  not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother.  And for what reason did he slay him?  Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.”  Certainly, Cain’s deeds were evil, lacking in love, but there are many evil deeds that do not reach the level of being worthy of the death penalty.

 

We also do have the description of the killing in Jude 1:10-13:  “But these men revile the things which they do not understand;  and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed.  Woe to them!  For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.  These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves;  clouds without water, carried along by winds;  autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted;  wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.”  Jude 1:10-13.  From this description, it seems as if Cain’s killing was more “unreasoning”, “without fear, caring for themselves”, than it was a killing with sufficient intention, sufficient hatred, or sufficient enmity toward Abel.

 

Finally, when the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?”  Cain said, “I do not know.  Am I my brother’s keeper?”  Cain’s answer seems more reckless, more “unreasoning”, “without fear, caring for themselves”, than it does indicating sufficient intention, sufficient hatred, or sufficient enmity toward Abel that deserved the death penalty.

 

 

“For I proclaim the name of the Lord;
Ascribe greatness to our God!
“The Rock!  His work is perfect,
For all His ways are just;
A God of faithfulness and without injustice,
Righteous and upright is He.”  Deuteronomy 32:3-4.

Today’s devotion comes from Genesis 4:1-8.

 

“¹ Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have gotten a manchild with the help of the Lord.”  ² Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel.  And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.  ³ So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground.  ⁴ Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions.  And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering;  ⁵ but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard.  So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.  ⁶ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry?  And why has your countenance fallen?  ⁷ If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up?  And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door;  and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”  ⁸ Cain told Abel his brother.  And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.”  Genesis 4:1-8.

 

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“For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”  Romans 6:14  

Today’s devotion comes from Genesis 3:20-24.

 

“Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.  The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.

 

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil;  and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.  So He drove the man out;  and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.”  Genesis 3:20-24.

 

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“For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”  So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.  For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.”  So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.”  Romans 9:15-18.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith;  and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  Ephesians 2:8-9. 

Today’s devotion comes from Genesis 3:8-19.

 

“⁸ They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.  ⁹ Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”  ¹⁰ He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked;  so I hid myself.”  ¹¹ And He said, “Who told you that you were naked?  Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”  ¹² The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.”  ¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”  And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”  ¹⁴ The Lord God said to the serpent,

¹⁷ Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’;

Today’s devotion comes from Genesis 3:1-7.

 

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.  And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”   The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;   but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’”   The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!   For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”   When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate;  and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.   Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.”  Genesis 3:1-7.

 

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From our man-centered and limited view, we may think that God had to go to Plan B after man fell into temptation and sin.  But, God is always in control and always works all things according to His purpose.  Reformed Doctrine is pleased to remind us of the fact. 

 

“… For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.  The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned;  for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.  For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”  Romans 5:15-17.

 

God always had salvation through grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone to the glory of God alone as Plan A.  According to His purpose, God works all things after the counsel of His will. 

 

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.  In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.  In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.  In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.”  Ephesians 1:3-12. 

 

“For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;  but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.  But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”  1 Corinthians 1:26-31.

 

“For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.  Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!  For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor?  Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again?  For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever.  Amen.”  Romans 11:32-36.

Today’s devotion comes from Genesis 2:18-25.

 

“¹⁸ Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone;  I will make him a helper suitable for him.”  ¹⁹ Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them;  and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.  ²⁰ The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.  ²¹ So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept;  then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.  ²² The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.  ²³ The man said,

²⁴ For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife;  and they shall become one flesh.  ²⁵ And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.”  Genesis 2:18-25.

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God provided man with “a helper”.  “The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.”  Verse 22.

God continues to provide excellent wives to so many of us.  

“¹⁰ An excellent wife, who can find?
For her worth is far above jewels.
¹¹ The heart of her husband trusts in her,
And he will have no lack of gain.
¹² She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.”  Proverbs 31:10-12.

As I approach our 32nd Wedding Anniversary which is tomorrow, I think of my wife and how many excellent qualities she has that are mentioned in the following verses of Proverbs 31:13-31.

But as we think of our excellent wives, let us not stop there, but let us use such thoughts to prompt us to think of our wives as evidence of God’s goodness.  Today’s Scripture shows that God’s goodness was the cause of His provision.  “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone;  I will make him a helper suitable for him.”  Verse 18.   

We know that man was not good so as to deserve such an excellent helper.  But, God is good, so He provided such a helper to man.

Let us review the goodness of God and the good things that He has provided to date in our very short journey so far from the beginning of Genesis 1:1.

In conclusion, let us rejoice and give thanks to God for His abundant goodness. 

Today’s devotion comes from Genesis 2:4-17.

 

“⁴ This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven.  ⁵ Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. ⁶ But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground.  ⁷ Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;  and man became a living being.  ⁸ The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden;  and there He placed the man whom He had formed.  ⁹ Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food;  the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

 

¹⁰ Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden;  and from there it divided and became four rivers.  ¹¹ The name of the first is Pishon;  it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.  ¹² The gold of that land is good;  the bdellium and the onyx stone are there.  ¹³ The name of the second river is Gihon;  it flows around the whole land of Cush.  ¹⁴ The name of the third river is Tigris;   it flows east of Assyria.  And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

 

¹⁵ Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.  ¹⁶ The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;  ¹⁷ but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”  Genesis 2:4-17.

 

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Today’s Scripture teaches us that the problem is not what is outside of us (our environment);  the problem is what is within us (sin).

 

God put man in the Garden of Eden where there was “every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food”.  We can imagine what an earthly paradise that it was.  But, despite this environment, we know that man rebelled against God and sinned.

 

We may also think:  “If only my boss or parent was not so strict!  If only there were not so many rules!  I  would do this or that!  I would have no troubles!  I would be happy!”   

Today’s Scripture teaches us that the problem is not the number of rules;  the problem is that one condition within us (sin).

God only had one command for man and gave man so many other options.  “The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;  but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”  Verses 16 and 17.  But, despite this minimum one commandment, we know that man rebelled against God and sinned. 

But, there is hope!

We can have comfort!  We can be happy!  Heidelberg Catechism shows us how to have comfort and be happy.

Question 2.  How many things are necessary for thee to know, that thou, enjoying this comfort, mayest live and die happily?

Answer.  Three;  the first, how great my sins and miseries are;  the second, how I may be delivered from all my sins and miseries;  the third, how I shall express my gratitude to God for such deliverance.  Heidelberg Catechism.